BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1145 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Patrick O'Donnell, Chair AB 1145 (Medina) - As Introduced February 27, 2015 SUBJECT: Students: Early Commitment to College program SUMMARY: Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), by November 1, 2016, to submit specified data on the Early Commitment to College Program (ECCP) to the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), and requires the LAO to submit a report on this data to the Legislature, by November 1, 2017. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires the SPI, by November 1, 2016, to submit to the LAO and CDE data relating to ECCP. 2)Requires the LAO, on or before November 1, 2017, to submit to the Legislature a report relating to the ECCP that includes: a) the number of school districts and students participating in ECCP b) the number of participating students who fulfilled the requirements of the ECCP c) any relevant outcome data reported by school districts to the SPI AB 1145 Page 2 d) the level of technical expertise and guidance provided by the SPI to school districts participating in the ECCP e) a recommendation on whether the ECCP should be continued. EXISTING LAW: 1)Establishes the ECCP, with voluntary participation by students and school districts, for the purposes of increasing college-going rates, motivating students to prepare for college, helping students understand that college is attainable and affordable, providing a clear path to college, and preparing a highly skilled workforce. Sunsets the ECCP on January 1, 2019. 2)Requires school districts which choose to participate in the ECCP to provide school-wide college information and college preparation event, and establishes a "Save me a Spot in College" pledge. 3)Defines "College Opportunity Zone" (COZ) to mean the 30 percent of public schools that maintain any of grades 6 to 9, inclusive, with the highest proportion of low-income students. AB 1145 Page 3 4)Requires the SPI to write letters to students in grades 6 to 9 and their parents which describe the major steps to prepare for college and the major postsecondary and financial aid opportunities available, and detail the Early Commitment to College program. 5)Requires the SPI to make these letters and program information available on its website and request all school districts to distribute the letters to students and their parents. 6)Specifies that a student scheduled to graduate from high school after 2017 is allowed to enroll in the program. 7)Requires the SPI to identify schools as COZs, develop the pledge, develop a letter to parents, and by November 1, 2017 submit a report to the Legislature on the status of the program. The report must have the following information: a) the number of school districts and students participating in the program b) the number of participating students who fulfilled the requirements of the pledge c) any relevant outcome data reported by school districts to the Superintendent d) a recommendation on whether the program should be continued. AB 1145 Page 4 1)Specifies the actions a student who signs the "Save Me a Spot in College" pledge commits to do, including meeting graduation requirements, enrolling in college preparatory coursework, seeking to achieve proficiency in mathematics and reading, complete and file a free application for federal student aid, meet application and other requirements for university admission or enroll directly in community college within 12 months after high school graduation. 2)Specifies the actions that school districts commit to take, including ensuring that each student receives a certificate of participation in the program, receives college information and a transcript review, and goes on a visit to at least one community college. School districts must also provide information on college admission and community college enrollment and financial aid at various points in high school. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown COMMENTS: Need for the measure. The author's office states, "The Early Commitment to College program, if implemented correctly, benefits all residents of California. The goal [of this bill] is to inform the creation of a stronger program that connects low-income students to higher education. Due to lack of support and funding, the implementation of this voluntary program has not been successful. The program sunsets in 2019, and a report on participation rates is due in 2017 to the Legislature. Without leadership and support, it does not appear that the CDE report will be useful to the Legislature in AB 1145 Page 5 determining the strengths and weaknesses of the existing program." What happened to this program? According to the CDE, under the prior administration of the Department the CDE never received funding to administer this program. That administration also never submitted a budget change proposal (BCP) requesting funding for that purpose. The CDE did send information to school districts as required, and post program information on its website. That information has since been removed. No data was collected about program participation, and CDE has no information on the number of districts that are participating. According to the author's staff, the proponents of the legislation that established the program worked to administer the program, creating, for example, a program toolkit which is still available online. But faced with other workload demands, that organization eventually ceased their support as well. Information available online suggests that thousands of students did take the ECCP pledge, including "thousands at nine middle schools" in the Los Angeles Unified School District and 15,000 in the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD). These districts, according to the LBUSD, were two of the first four to implement the program. The LBUSD program, called the Long Beach College Promise, was implemented in conjunction with a one-semester tuition-free guarantee from California State University, Long Beach, as well as college scholarships. Since this program was built on existing local models, it is likely that there are more participating districts, though the extent to which their activities are a result of the ECCP may be difficult to determine. Who should write the report? In recent years the LAO has increasingly been assigned responsibility for reports in the area of higher education policy. This is likely due to the elimination of the California Postsecondary Education Commission AB 1145 Page 6 (CPEC) in 2011. The LAO has indicated that this increasing workload has become a problem. The author's office recognizes this issue, and is seeking alternatives to assigning this responsibility to the LAO, such as the California Research Bureau (California State Library). What will this report tell the Legislature? This bill requires that the LAO report to the Legislature in a largely descriptive manner on the program. It requires that the LAO report on: the number of school districts and students participating in the program the number of participating students who fulfilled the requirements of the pledge any relevant outcome data reported by school districts to the Superintendent the level of technical expertise and guidance provided by the SPI to school districts participating in the program a recommendation on whether the program should be continued Since the goal of this program was to increase college-going rates, that is the metric by which the program should be evaluated. By requiring information on the number of students AB 1145 Page 7 who fulfilled the pledge, current law requires that the report include information on the number of students who met application and other requirements for university admission or enrolled directly in community college within twelve months after high school graduation, but stops short of requiring information on university or other postsecondary program enrollment rates. That information would be useful in determining whether the program should continue, and could also inform future program design and implementation. If that information could be obtained, it would also be useful to identify any factors - local or state supports or barriers, for example - that have contributed to its effect. Staff recommends that the bill be amended to require that the report contain any available information about participants' university and other postsecondary program enrollment rates, and any state or local factors contributing to the program's success or failure. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support None on file Opposition None on file AB 1145 Page 8 Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087